Obama urges ‘super’ committee to reach solution by Nov. 23 deadline

The Ticket

President Barack Obama on Sunday urged members of the bipartisan congressional supercommittee to find common ground on a deficit-reduction plan by their Nov. 23 deadline, but he suggested not everyone appears willing to make concessions.

"It feels as if people continue to try to stick with their rigid positions rather than solve the problem," the president said at a news conference in Kapolei, Hawaii, near the site of this weekend's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The president said only concrete solutions, not "magic" will enable Congress to agree to a plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit:

My hope is that over the next several days, the congressional leadership on the super committee go ahead and bite the bullet and do what needs to be done--because the math won't change. There's no magic formula. There are no magic beans that you can toss on the ground and suddenly a bunch of money grows on trees. We got to just go ahead and do the responsible thing. And I'm prepared to sign legislation that is balanced, that solves this problem.

Republicans on the 12-member panel have been loathe to entertain significant tax hikes, but have conceded in recent weeks that some tax increases will be necessary to achieve a compromise deal with Democrats.

"Increasing tax revenues could hurt the economy, but within the context of bipartisan negotiations with Democrats, clearly they are a reality," Jeb Hensarling, a Republican representative from Texas and a co-chairman of the committee, said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Pat Toomey, a Republican senator from Pennsylvania who is a member of the committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" that his party is open to tax revenues, but he lowered expectations for a swift solution, saying the committee is "at a difficult point."

"I think we got a ways to go," Toomey said.

James Clyburn, a Democratic representative from South Carolina who is on the committee, sounded an optimistic tone on "Fox News Sunday."

"I'm very hopeful that we will" reach a solution, Clyburn said, "and I feel very comfortable that we will. I am not as certain as I was 10 days ago, but I think that, again, we've got 10 days to do this, and I really believe that all of the ingredients for a good resolution are there. We just need to build the will."

If members do not reach their goal before Nov. 23, an automatic $1.2 trillion in cuts will be triggered.

That automatic action is unpalatable enough to force action by the committee, Office of Management and Budget director Jack Lew told Yahoo Finance last week.